Crimean self-defense troops have made a passage to let Ukrainian
servicemen leave the territory of the HQ. Reports on the number
of people to have left vary with ITAR-TASS saying around 50
personnel are gone, Rear Admiral Sergey Gaiduk of the Ukrainian
Navy among them.

However, Kryminform says Gaiduk has been detained by the
Sevastopol prosecutor’s office while RIA Novosti reports that his
whereabouts is unknown.

People began protesting outside the HQ at 08:00 GMT. Several
thousand participants cut fences, stormed inside and changed the
flags on the flagpoles. Some of the participants of the rally
were singing the Russian national anthem.

There were no immediate reports of violence.

The protesters hoisted Russian and St. Andrew's flags, the latter
being the Russian Navy Ensign, according to Interfax.

There was an immediate alert on the territory of the HQ and the
Ukrainian seamen lined up in front of the protesters, reports
Interfax. The line was broken by cars belonging to activists that
entered the territory.

The protesters were calling upon the Ukrainian servicemen to
leave the HQ. An ambulance was also called as a precaution.

UkrStream.TV cameras which recorded the situation near the
headquarters of the Ukrainian Navy show no violence on the
precinct.

After the protesters entered the navy HQ territory, they began
holding talks with the representatives of the Ukrainian Navy.

According to Sevastopol news websites, the Commander of the
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Vice-Admiral Aleksandr Vitko, later
arrived to negotiate with Gaiduk.

After just 15 minutes of negotiations, Vitko left the grounds and
refused to comment on the results of the talks with Gaiduk.

Before leaving, both rear admirals held talks with Admiral Yury
Ilyin, the new Army chief and Admiral Viktor Maksimov, the head
of Ukraine’s Naval Forces.

Earlier, there were reports of possible provocations. Some
unidentified men tried to enter the building. However, the
attempts failed due to Self-Defense Unit guards and Crimean
Cossacks.

Ukrainian armed forces commander Mikhail Kucin has informed his
Russian counterpart Valery Gerasimov that he has authorized the
use of military force by troops stationed in Crimea, according to
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.

In a phone conversation with Gerasimov, Kucin has emphasized
de-escalation and a political solution to the crisis, rather than
a violent one. The green light to use force has been given by him
in the aftermath of the events in Simferopol, which have led to
the death of one Ukrainian soldier and another from the
Crimean Self-Defense Forces, while two others were injured.

On March 16, Crimea held a referendum in which over 96 percent of
its citizens voted to join Russia. Two days later, the Autonomous
Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status,
became federal objects of the Russian
Federation.